Filing drawer



June 12, 1934.

w. J. HAMPTON 1,962,146

FILING DRAWER Filed May 23, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l m fiuuwww M June 12,1934. w J HAMPTON 1,962,146

FILING DRAWER Filed May 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 awe/whom 5; m fiimsen, flaw Mam Patented June 12, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE FILINGDRAWER Application May 23, 1932, Serial No. 612,954

16 Claims.

This invention relates to drawers, trays or receptacles for holdingarticles of plate-like form standing on edge. While the invention isadapted for use with various vertical files, I am more particularlyconcerned with its embodiment in a drawer adapted to hold a considerablenumber of address plates, such as used in addressing machines, thedrawer receiving the plates one after another as discharged from theaddressing machine, retaining them, subject to manual removal, when thedrawer is out of the machine or stored, and adapted to discharge themwhenever desired into the addressing machine.

It is an object of my invention to provide a yielding presser carried bythe drawer in amanner to engage the foremost article in the drawer andmaintain the stack substantially vertical. Another object is to soarrange the presser that while it is effective on the foremost plate, itwill not interfere in any manner with the normal use of the drawer orthe manual separation of the plates therein for inspection.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the presser that itwill not interfere with the normal operation of a suitable packer of anaddressing machine which may enter the drawer between the presser and arearwardly shiftable follower, and, by working back and forth in thedrawer, feed the plates as deposited in front of the packer toward therear end of the drawer.

Some space must be provided at the forward portion of the drawer for theoperation of the packer of the addressing machine, and when the draweris being removed from the addressing machine, there has been difficultythat the forward plates would slide down into this space and liesubstantially horizontally in the bottom of the drawer instead ofstanding vertically. My pressing device operates automatically tomaintain the stack in position as the drawer is being removed from theaddressing machine, and this is one of its valuable features.

Preferably, the presser is pivotally carried by a lining plate at thefront of the drawer which assists in supporting alabel visible throughan opening in the drawer front, and this feature is also included withinmy invention.

My invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof and is hereinaftermore fully explained in connection therewith.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional perspective of the drawer looking at the interiorfrom an intermediate position and toward the front.

Fig. 2 is a perspective of the presser plate itself.

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the liner plate, which I pivotally carriesthe presser plate.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross section through a corner of the drawer atthe forward end, as indicated by the line 4-4 on Fig. l. V

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the drawer with a number of addressplates therein held in their stored position.

Fig. 6 is a similar section through the drawer as mounted in anaddressing machine to receive discharged plates, the packer of theaddressing machine being indicated. a

As shown in the drawings, the drawer is mad of sheet metal and has abottom 10, side walls 11 with the upper edges turned inwardly, as at 12,and then downwardly as flanges 13 standing some distance in the interiorof the drawer. At the rear the drawer is closed by a suitable back 15.

The front 29 cf the drawer preferably rises considerably higher than theside walls and is secured to the bottom and side walls. It is shown ashaving a cut-out downwardly-turned tongue 21 to form a handle leavingan'opening 22, behind which a label may be placed. As shown, this frontis secured to the side walls 11 by means of inwardly bent end portions24, which are then bent outwardly on themselves at 25 and intermediatelygrip inturned flanges 14 formed on the ends of the drawer sides 11. Thisconstruction is illustrated particularly in Fig. 4. At its upper end,the drawer front is preferably curled over, as shown at 27, to make asmooth upper edge, while its lower end is flanged rearwardly and thenhas upwardly turned tongues 28 which enter the drawer bottom.

The liner, which extends along the inner face of the front 20, comprisesa sheet metal member of the form shown in Fig. 3. It lies against therear face of the drawer front, and extends across the front of the endsof the side wall flanges 13, which are cut back at their extreme ends,as illustrated in Fig. 4. The liner is prevented from lateral shiftingby tongues 32, cut out from the body of the liner and pressed rearwardlyto abut the inner faces of the flanges 13 near the end. At its lowerend, the liner may be bent forwardly, as shown at 34, and abut tongues1'? turned upwardly from the bottom of the drawer. The upper edge of theliner is intermediately cut away, as at 35, and the extreme portions atthe top are curled into hinge cars 36.

The liner 30 is shown as having projections 38 formed at its extremeends, preferably by round ng lateral tongues formed on the liner blank.These projections rest on the top surface 12 of the drawer sides whenthe liner is in place, as shown in Fig. 1, and serve as struts, bracingthe projecting upper portion of the liner and drawer front.

My spring presser comprises a plate 40 of the form shown in Fig. 2,having a cut-out upper portion 41 and a cut-out lower portion 42 so thatthe plate is of approximately H shape. The upper edges of this plate arecurled over to make hinge ears 43. These ears stand between, and alignwith, the cars 36 formed on the liner. The corresponding ears of theliner and presser plate are connected together by hinge pintles whichproject inwardly of the ears 43.

Suitable wire springs are coiled about the pintles 50 and have freeprojecting arms, one of which bears against the rear face of the linerand the other against the under face of the presser plate. The normalposition of these springs is such as to support the presser plate in aninclined position with its lower edge within the drawer between the sideflanges. Thus, the presser plate is pressed by spring action against thedevices in the drawer immediately behind the plate.

As shown in the drawings, I have formed keepers 39 on the liner, formedby making parallel slits and pressing rearwardly the interveningportions, and corresponding keepers 45 on the presser plate, and theends of the springs are mounted in these keepers, as illustrated inFigs. 5 and 6.

As the normal position of the springs holds the presser plate with itslower end in the drawer, it will be seen that these keepers prevent theplate being inadvertently swung out of the drawer, as such movementwould constrain the springs in the opposite direction, so that theywould react and return the presser plate. The lower ends of the presserplate are bent backwardly on themselves as shown at 48, so that they maypresent a smooth, rounded surface to rub against the devices in thedrawer.

The liner with the presser mounted thereon may be readily installed inthe drawer, after the latter is assembled, by being slid down into spacebehind the drawer front and in front of the side flanges 13. As theliner comes into this position, the upper edge springs beneath thebeaded-over top 27 of the front, and is thus retained against an upwardmovement, while the lower end of the liner is accurately positioned byreason of the engagement of its bent portion 34 with the bottom lugs 17.

The liner cooperates with the front of the drawer to provide a pocketfor holding the drawer label. Such label is indicated by a card having aprotecting piece of transparent material 61. These parts are inserteddownwardly from behind the drawer front into the space in front of theliner, and thus rest on an offset shoulder 29 of the drawer front behindthe window 22. The cut-out recesses 35 in the upper portion of theliner, and 41 in the presser plate provide space, enabling this label tobe readily placed.

Figs. 5 and 6 show my filing drawer carrying a set of address plates Astanding on end in normal position in the drawer. This stack of platesis supported at the rear by a follower which stands in the drawer andmay have a frictional engagement with the sides thereof. If desired,this follower may be made in accordance with Patent No. 1,466,792, ofJoseph S. Duncan, issued September 4, 1923. When so made, the followerhas wings 71 riding against the inner face of the flanges 13 and otherwings extending within said flanges, and carries suitable locking leversin the form of bell cranks controlled by a cam 74 on the follower whichis adapted to press the upwardly extending arms of the bell cranksagainst the inner sides of the flanges 13. Any suitable form offollower, however, may be employed.

In Fig. 6, I have illustrated my drawer as mounted on the swingingsupport 100 in an addressing machine having an oscillating packer 191projecting into the drawer. In the normal operation of the addressingmachine, such packer swings from the position shown in full lines towardthe front, providing the space for the insertion of an address platebetween the packer and the plates already in the drawer, and then thepacker returns to the position shown in full lines, shoving all theplates in the drawer toward the rear. Now, in such operation, the packersimply presses back my presser plate, but otherwise operates in thenormal manner in the machine.

The drawer support 100 may be pivotally mounted at 103, so that theloaded drawer may be swung down into the position indicated by thebroken line 102 for removal. In such position there has been difficultyheretofore that the plates at the front of the drawer would tip over orslide down in the bottom and thus would lie one on top of the other, andit was necessary to restore them by hand after the drawer was removed.In my invention, however, the presser plate comes automatically intoengagement with the front of the stack as soon as the latter is removedfrom the action of the packer, and this prevents any dislocation of theplates.

My presser continues its valuable function after the drawer has beenremoved from the machine, and while it is stored in a cabinet orstanding on a table for inspection. It maintains the plates in verticalposition between the follower and presser plate, as illustrated in Fig.5, but at the same time, the stack of plates can be separated manuallyat any point and the forward portion of the stack pressed forwardly toallow inspection of the plate behind the region of separation.

It will be observed that the cut-out lower end of the presser plategives ample room for the packer, and also enables the entire face of theforemost plate or article to be readily inspected when in the drawer.the cut-out upper portion of the presser plate, together with that ofthe liner provides for the ready mounting of the hinge pintles andsprings, and allows the very ready insertion of the label in the drawerfront.

I claim:

1. The combination of a tray having a front end, a presser hinged to thefront and springpressed rearwardly to act against articles filed in thetray.

2. The combination of a receptacle having sides and a front and aninclined presser plate pivotally mounted at its upper end adjacent thetop of the said front and having its rear end between said sides, andmeans for pressing said plate rearwardly and upwardly.

3. A filing drawer having sides and a front rising higher than thesides, and an inclined presser plate pivotally mounted at its upper endadjacent the top of the drawer front and having its rear end dependinginto position between the drawer sides, and means for pressing saidplate rearwardly.

4. The combination of a drawer, a presser plate hinged to the forwardend of the drawer near the It will also be seen th t top thereof, andextending downwardly and rearwardly into the drawer, and a springconstrained between the front of the drawer and the back of the presserplate and tending to swing it toward the rear.

5. The combination of a receptacle, a presser plate within thereceptacle having its upper portion hinged on a horizontal axis to theforward end of the receptacle, and a spring bent about the hinge pintlehaving one arm acting against the receptacle front and the other againstthe presser plate.

6. The combination of a receptacle having a front plate, a liner carriedby the receptacle behind the front plate and adjacent thereto, and apresser plate hinged to the liner and adapted to act on the forward oneof a number of devices stacked in the receptacle.

7. The combination of a drawer, a front therefor, a liner behind thefront, a presser plate, the presser plate and liner being formed withcooperating ears, hinge pintles occupying such ears, and springsembracing the hinge pintles and acting on the liner and on the presserplate.

8. The combination of a drawer having a front, a liner behind the front,said liner having upwardly extending portions near its ends curled intohinge ears, a presser plate having portions curled into hinge ears andadapted to register with the ears of the liner, pins occupying the hingeears of the presser plate and liner, and a spring between the liner andpresser plate.

9. The combination of a drawer having a front with a sight openingthrough it, a liner behind the front, there being a label pocket betweenthe liner and the front, a presser plate hinged to the liner, and aspring acting on the presser plate.

10. The combination of a drawer having a front and having side wallswhich are bent inwardly and flanged downwardly, a liner on the rear faceof the front extending beyond the ends of the side flanges, and apressing device yieldingly carried by the liner.

11. The combination of a drawer having a front and side walls which arebent inwardly and flanged downwardly, a liner on the rear face of thefront extending beyond the ends of the side flanges, and a pressingdevice hinged at its upper edge to the upper end of the liner anddepending diagonally into the drawer between the side flanges thereof,and spring means acting on the presser plate.

12. The combination of a receptacle having side walls and a front, apresser plate cut out above and below to give it an H form having itsupper arms hinged to the front portion of the receptacle and having itslower arms adapted to stand in various inclined positions between thesides, and a spring acting on the presser plate.

13. The combination of a drawer having side walls and a front risingabove the side walls, a liner behind the front rising above the sidewalls and having a cut-out central portion and hinge ears at the sidesthereof, a presser plate of H form having its upper arms hinged to theupper portions of the liner and having its lower arms adapted to standin various inclined positions between the drawer sides, and a springacting on the presser plate.

14. The combination of a metal drawer having a bottom, side walls whichare bent inwardly and then flanged downwardly,and a front secured to theside walls, the flanges terminating a short distance behind the front, aliner resting against the rear face of the front and extending acrossthe ends of the flanges, a pair of hinge ears formed on the liner, apresser plate having hinge ears at its upper end registering with thoseof the liner and pinned thereto, the lower edge of the presser platelying between the side flanges of the drawer, and springs embracing thehinge pins and having two flaring arms, one extending substantiallyvertically and bearing against the liner and the other diagonally andbearing against the presser plate, whereby the latter is yieldinglyheld.

15. The combination of a metal drawer having a bottom, side walls whichare bent inwardly and then flanged downwardly, and a front secured tothe side walls and rising above them, a liner resting against the rearface of the front and extending across the ends of the flanges,projections formed on the liner to engage the top of the side walls ofthe drawer, a pair of hinge ears formed on the liner, a presser platehaving hinge ears at its upper end registering with those of the linerand pinned thereto, the lower edge of the presser plate lying betweenthe side flanges of the drawer, and a spring bearing against the presserplate whereby the latter is yieldingly held.

16. The combination with a filing drawer, of a movable presser device atthe forward end of the drawer, said device depending from a mountingmeans carried by the drawer, and means acting on the presser device andtending to move it rearwardly and upwardly to cause it to exert ayielding pressure against articles mounted in upright position in thedrawer at the rear of the presser device.

WILLIAM JOHN HAMPTON.

